Four dead, three rescued in Lagos building collapse
24 Sep 2022 10:44am
Building collapses were common occurrences in Nigeria due to bad workmanship, low-quality materials and corruption - Photo from Reuters
Building collapses were common in Africa's most populous nation where many reside in dilapidated structures and construction safety regulations were often ignored.
"Four bodies (were) recovered - two males and two females - and they have been handed over for onward deposit to the mortuary," Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency said.
He added that three people had been rescued after they were trapped under the debris of the residential building in the Mushin area of the city of over 20 million inhabitants.
He said those injured had been hospitalised, while a search and rescue operation was still ongoing.
Bad workmanship, low-quality materials and corruption to bypass official oversight were often blamed for Nigerian building disasters.
Earlier this month, six people were killed when a seven-storey building under construction collapsed in the city.
There had also been deadly building collapses in other parts of Nigeria in recent months.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari had called for improved construction standards saying the frequency of building collapses was "increasingly embarrassing".
Since 2005, at least 152 buildings had collapsed in Lagos, according to a South African university researcher investigating construction disasters. - AFP
